1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to food preparation devices and, more particularly, to novel utensils supporting multiple cooking environments for preparing foods.
2. The Background Art
Cooking utensils have been developed and used throughout the years. Traditionally, cooking utensils facilitate a cooking surface that supports a single cooking, environment for preparing foods (e.g., baking pans, casserole dishes, rice cookers, frying pans, woks, etc.). In addition, those skilled in the art invented cooking utensils having a single cooking surface for preparing foods and for also accommodating additional functional purposes.
For example, those skilled in the art developed combination dish drainer, steamer, roaster and baking pans consisting essentially of a collection pan, a cover and a drainer. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,103,169, the pan generally includes triangular support lugs formed in the corners of its interior periphery so as to provide a shoulder for supporting the drainer therein. The drainer formed having a size and shape adapted to be inserted into the upper portion of the pan. The drainer may consist of a bottom surface formed with transverse corrugations and openings in the bottoms of channels between the ridges formed by the corrugations. A central portion of the bottom of the drainer may be formed with a cross-sectionally inverted V-shaped transversely arranged upwardly extending support that projects above the side walls of the drainer. When the device is used as a dish drainer, dishes to be drained are arranged to bear against and be supported by the inverted cone. A cover may then be positioned over the drainer and the dishes supportably disposed therein. In operation, a suitable amount of water may be poured into the pan and then heated. The steam generated from the water will be caused to thoroughly cleanse the dishes and then the remaining water can be effectively drained from the internal periphery of the collection pan upon completion of the process.
Another prior art combination food preparation device is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,640. As disclosed, the utensil for cooking or baking in a microwave oven generally comprises a partitioned tray and cover held in substantially fixed horizontal alignment by a microwave transparent base. The tray and cover are metallic and provide means for shielding the interior of the tray from microwave energy. Correspondingly, a ferrite layer is formed on the underside of the tray to absorb microwave energy and thereby provide heat which conducts through the tray to the partitioned cooking compartments. To accommodate the cooking or baking process, a plurality of apertures are formed in the cover to facilitate the escape of steam from the interior of the tray.
Although food preparation devices have been found to be generally useful, prior art cooking utensils incorporate several inherent disadvantages in relation to supporting more than a single cooking environment for preparing foods. As will be further appreciated by those skilled in this particular art, economic considerations are significant when dealing with this highly competitive industry, since comparatively numerous cooking components or utensils are needed to support multiple cooking environments for simultaneously preparing foods and, thereby, are frequently found to be commercially impractical in collection. In this regard, even a slight savings in cost by way of reducing the number of cooking utensils needed to simultaneously accommodate multiple cooking environments in a single cooking utensil will substantially increase or enhance its commercial appeal when considering relevant issues of application and/or mass production. Correspondingly, the present invention provides a single utensil capable of supporting multiple cooking environments for preparing foods which overcomes several deficiencies of prior art food preparation devices and resolves several problems left unsolved by the known prior art.